~Spoiler-free review~
Review by Dean
~Synopsis~
Le Cid is a french tragycomedic play written by Corneille in 1637. The story revolves around two families: the fathers are Don Diègue and Don Gomès. They are on friendly terms and will soon see their families united by the marriage of Don Diègue’s son: Rodrigue and Don Gomès’s daughter: Chimène. But one day, out of anger, Don Gomès slights Don Diègue’s honor and the latter asks his son to kill him to regain their family honor. Rodrigue is now torn between his father’s order and the love of his life, who would never forgive him for having killed her father.
~Review~
This play is absolutely wonderful and also a very quick read. I could not put it down and read it in an hour and a half because I was so engrossed with the story. The confrontation between duty, honor and love is fascinating and alleviated by touches of humor here and there. I had vaguely heard of this play and had read a book inspired by it so I was very curious about what it was going to be. And I was not disappointed. This story will grip you by the heartstrings and never let you go.
The writing is marvelous. It is a play written in Alexandrines and the words flow from the mouth like a fountain of poetry. I have never read Alexandrines that did not seem to weigh the prose down and make sentences unnecessarily long. The words are best spoken aloud and I wish I will one day have the opportunity to see a live play of Le Cid, to see what my ancestors must have experienced at the time. Now I can quote my favorite passages in daily conversation and the words just take a life of their own, they really seem to carry some sort of magic when spoken.
Rating: 5/5 stars.
Dragon Spirits 